Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead a trade delegation in Washington today for two days of talks with US

Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead a trade delegation in Washington today for two days of talks with US counterparts.

With a March 1 deadline approaching, Beijing has stepped up efforts to deter the US from imposing 35% tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Though US President Donald Trump sees two moving towards a deal, little progress has been made on intellectual property rights of US American firms operating in China—a key stumbling block. China has stated that it will strengthen legal intellectual property rights and apply compensation; however, there are concerns that China’s main motive is to show Trump enough progress so that he postpones the March 1 tariffs. Already, Trump raised the possibility of waiving the 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

While a trade deal appears unlikely to result from this week’s meeting, the two sides have agreed to outline their commitments in a memorandum of understanding, which will likely be signed at the conclusion of the talks. Both sides have also suggested an extension to the deadline—perhaps to April 29—could eventuate if the talks are fruitful.

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